To ensure that people in flood-hit Uttarakhand are ready to face natural calamities in the future, the Centre wants rehabilitation work of a permanent nature.

PTI|

Updated: Oct 31, 2013, 10.55 PM IST

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DEHRADUN: To ensure that people in flood-hit Uttarakhand are ready to face natural calamities in the future, the Centre wants rehabilitation work of a permanent nature, NDMA member VK Duggal said.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants rehabilitation work of a permanent nature to be carried out in Uttarakhand so that they can survive natural calamities in future too," Duggal said adding an amount of Rs 7,500 crore will be made available by the Centre for rehabilitation endeavours.

Duggal, who was deputed here by the Centre to coordinate relief operations in the state in the wake of the June calamity, praised the state government for the manner in which it dealt with a disaster of such scale describing it as exemplary.

"The manner in which the state government dealt with a tragedy of this magnitude is exemplary. It was the largest ever evacuation exercise carried out anywhere in the world which saw 1.60 lakh stranded pilgrims being moved to safety," Duggal told reporters after discussing various issues related to disaster management with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Evacuating such a large number of people to safety despite the hilly terrain and inclement weather was a huge challenge which was efficiently tackled by the state government with help from the armed forces, NDRF, Police, BRO and PWD personnel, said Duggal who is moving to Andhra Pradesh to offer his expertise for the relief of rain-ravaged people of the southern state.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna also expressed his gratitude to Duggal for the help he offered to the state government at a time when it was grappling with the after effects of the mid-June floods.

He said the state government will continue to take his help in its ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the flood-hit areas of the state.